Now that you have read and analyzed the poem, "Facing It" by Yusef Komuyakaa, select 3 strong images from the poem and discuss their literal AND figurative meanings. Finish your response by explaining how these images and their metaphorical meaning helps your understanding of the theme of the poem (hint: revisit the title of the poem).

PLEASE ADD WORD COUNT AT END OF EACH BLOG ENTRY!

Primary Blog Entry Expectations (respond to the prompt above): 200-250 words, minimal errors in grammar and usage, thoughtful and thorough writing. Please use the assigned "pen name" given to you in class. Due by 11:59 pm on Friday night (2-20-2015).

Secondary Blog Entry Expectations (read everyone's first responses, select two that interest you, and respond to their ideas): 100-150 words EACH, minimal errors in grammar and usage, thoughtful and thorough writing. Please use the assigned "pen name" given to you in class. Due by 11:59 pm on Sunday night (2-22-2015).

(3 total blog entries for this assignment)

11

2/20/2015 02:55:14 am

In the poem Facing It by Yusef Komunyakaa has lot of descriptive imagery stanzas that make you feel as if you are really there. In the poem it states “I go down the 58,022 names, half-expecting to find my own in letters like smoke”. The literal meaning of this stanza is saying he reads all the names on the black granite wall hoping to see his own in letters that are gray. So basically he was in the Vietnam War and he come back to the memorial to pay his respects. Through the eyes of the speaker at the memorial he sees a man who looks like “He’s lost his right arm in the stone”. The literal meaning of this stanza is basically that the man could have potentially been in the Vietnam War at one point in his life and he lost his arm. But, in reality the man could have been just touching the stone and the reflection on the black stone is making it seem like he does not have that arm. The speaker also states that “I[he] see the booby trap’s white flash” when it goes off. The literal meaning is basically that he sees a white flash from something that passes across the warm. He is basically reminiscing at the memorial of the trauma that he went through while he was the Vietnam Memorial. These images allow me to understand what was actually going on through this Vets head when he was “Facing It” [the wall] at the memorial. He shows the after effect of being in the Vietnam War and all of the emotional problems that comes with it.

Word Count: 278

13

2/22/2015 11:59:33 am

I agree with what he could be feeling with the names that he came to show his respect for his fallen soldiers but there can also be a feeling of guilt. He fought with some of those soldiers who died, and he’s the one who survived unlike his teammates. To show that he will never forget them, he goes to the wall to remember them. The feeling inside of him is pain for what happened, that he couldn’t bring any of them with him to the world after the war. He was glad that he made it but also regretted not being able to protect them. 106

6

2/20/2015 02:55:48 am

In the poem “Facing It” by Yusef Komuyakaa the author writes, “My black face fades, hiding inside the granite”. The literal meaning is that the speaker who is African American is looking at himself in a black granite wall. However, metaphorically it’s saying that he’s not hiding inside because of his skin color but because he can’t bring himself to face that wall yet so he is being absorbed into it. In another line he writes “I go down the 58,022 names, half expecting to find my own in the letters of smoke”. As a veteran that he reads the name and feels as though he should see his name with theirs craved into the wall. When you look deeper into this quotation smoke can be a metaphor relation to the war. Smoke is something that is visible but fades away which could relate to people and death. You’re here for the time being and then you fade away when your time is over. Finally another image that he adds into the poem is “Names shimmer on a woman’s blouse but when she walks away the names stay on the wall”. In this part of the poem speaker sees a woman’s reflection through the granite of the wall. Metaphorically the speaker may be hoping that the takes away some of the names with her as she walks away in the hopes that maybe the people who died during the war can come back maybe. All of these images helped me to understand the theme of the poem that in order to get over a tragedy, we must face it in order to move on in life. Word Count: 276

20

2/22/2015 10:55:10 am

In a way I agree with you about the names being on the womenms coat in hope that those people would come back. I feel like it's like the speaker really wanted to believe that it was all a dream as the women walks by and the names appear. Although as soon as she is gone the names remain on the wall kind of like a reality check. The names won't be going anywhere. It is true that in order to overcome a tradegy you must deal with it to be in peace. You see it alot when someone loses someone they loved there's not a day that goes by where the person may think why it had to be them why couldn't it be somone else which is understandle when the speaker mentions about seeing his name in the letters like smoke.
Word Count: 151

Rashad Slappy

2/20/2015 03:03:49 am

Rashad Slappy
Facing It

In the poem "Facing it" by Yusef Komunyakaa the title tells you what’s going on, he is facing past events that happen in his life . But of course in the poem he is facing a black wall. But not any wall the Vietnam memorial to be specific, "My black face fades, hiding inside the black granite. What we are seeing, through the eyes of a past solider from the Vietnam War, is the Vietnam memorial. What his race is, we don’t know, because his face is black looking into that black wall of names. “I go down the 58,022 names,/half expecting to find/my own in letters like smoke.” This quote is pretty much saying that he doesn’t think himself better, and maybe not even luckier than those who names were written on the wall. And also he might be saying that he maybe should of have died in the war like all of the others that died and thei names are among the wall. The title “Facing It” isn’t just talking about the literal facing a wall, but also looking at the reality of the war, and the dead, and” I touch the name Andrew Johnson I see the booby trap’s white flash” when he touches the name he remembers a war buddy that he knew really close and the details on the way he left the earth.

2

2/20/2015 11:03:20 am

In the poem "facing it" authored by Yusef komuyakaa is a poem about the Vietnam war which talks alot about how it happend and also written in stanzas. In the poem,Yusef Komuyakaa quote that "I go down the 58,022 names, half-expecting to find my own in letters like smoke". This means that he reads or was reading the name on the wall hoping to see his own or find his reflection on the gray black wall, so in other ways I can say that he was involved in the Vietnam war but came letter to see and remember it. The smoke in the quote also represent or relate to the incident that happened In the war, and since smoke fades or moves and disappear it tells about the people who died or lost their life. "He lost his right arm" this means that he lost his right arm during the war, so touching the wall makes him think and feels that he has no arm. " I turn that way --am inside the Vietnam veterans memorial again, depending on the light to make a difference" this means that he turn back to the middle of the memorial to see the sun on his face, also doing makes him feels or reminds him that he is still at the Vietnam war. This image and title has given me more understanding, due to the stanzas it makes it seems real even though it happened long ago.

18

2/20/2015 01:01:38 pm

In the poem “Facing It” by Yusef Komunyakaa, the author talks a man who has come out of war and goes to visit the wall memorial in Washing DC. As he’s dead and literally looking at this memorial face to face. This poem has both a lot of literal and figurative meaning behind it and this in which helps us as the readers to imagine how things were for him while looking at this wall. “I touch the name Andrew Johnson; I see the booby trap’s white flash”, the meaning behind this line seems to be that this Andrew Johnson person is someone who in which he was close to and as he came across his name, he had a flashback to what happened the last time he saw him. “I’m stone. I’m flesh”, this line meaning that he comes to see that while looking at all those names on the wall, he’s stunned, still, frozen, confused and coming to terms with all that has happened and that he’s human and needs healing from all that has happened. “I go down the 58,022 names, half-expecting to find my own in letters like smoke” this meaning that he’s looking through the list of names and expecting to find his name on the wall also carved in grey but also causes me to question, is he really dead? Or is he a mourning spirit? (232)

14

2/20/2015 01:20:03 pm

In the poem “Facing It” by Yusef Komunyakaa, is about a man who was in war and went through a lot. “I said I wouldn’t, dammit: No tears. I’m stone. I’m flesh” this line meaning that he holding back tears that he doesn’t want to shed because he doesn’t want to show that side of himself but he comes to realize and remember that he’s human and he doesn’t want his feelings to overwhelm him. “I turn this way—the stone lets me go”, here he’s basically saying that he looked to the wall for a sign, a way out of all that has happened to him and all that he has witnessed and at last the stones give him a way out and he’s reassured that everything will be fine from this moment out. “I touch the name Andrew Johnson; I see the booby trap’s white flash”, this image gives off the impression of the fact that this Andrew person is most likely someone that the speaker was close to, met on base or maybe someone who is family to him. In this case when he came across Andrew’s name, he had a flashback which could have been the best moments that he shared with Andrew or could have been the last moments in which he saw Andrew alive while out fighting in war.

14

2/20/2015 01:20:59 pm

word count: 225

8

2/20/2015 01:22:00 pm

In the poem, “Facing It” by Yusef Komuyakaa, he said “I’m stone, I’m flesh.” In a literal sense, he means that he is standing there like stone but still there in the flesh. Figuratively, he means that he is trying to be tough but he’s human so he gets a bit emotional. Especially since he is around a memorial of a war which he was involved in. Another strong image from the poem is, “I touch the name Andrew Johnson; I see the booby trap’s white flash.” What the speaker means literally is that he saw the name Andrew Johnson and has a flashback. In a figurative sense, Andrew Johnson could be an old friend and he gets a flashback of how he dies. The final image from the poem is, “A white vet’s image floats closer to me, then his pale eyes look through mine. I’m a window. He’s lost his right arm inside the stone.” A person who is considered a vet is standing near him and the speaker is looking at his reflection and where he is standing in the reflective granite makes it look like as if he lost an arm. Figuratively, he could be seeing himself (since he is a vet) and the lost arm can symbolize as if he lost something inside himself like his innocence or his peace of mind after the war.
In order to move forward, we must face our past and let ourselves let go of it, tell ourselves its okay to do so.

Word Count: 254

22

2/22/2015 02:04:20 pm

I agree with you about “I touch the name Andrew Johnson; I see the booby trap’s white flash.” because you get the image of the speakers facial reaction when he has that flashback. This part of the poem was obvious of what he meant but yet deep because it make you think all these soldiers had to witness and stay "stone" and move on with their duties.

10

2/22/2015 02:56:27 pm

Right, everyone is human, and flesh and should be able to express their feeljngs anyways they would Like. And yes In all the whole poem related to him facing talking about the war and overcoming that hurt.

6

2/23/2015 03:34:30 am

I agree with you when you said that he's trying to be tough but he's human so he has to be emotional. A lot of times in life we come across this feeling because we can't help it. Also I agree with the comment that the lost arm could be him losing something inside himself. Maybe the lost arm could relate to someone that he actually knew in the war that resembled the man that actually lost an arm during combat.

9

2/20/2015 01:43:19 pm

The poem "Facing it" by Yusef Komunyakaa is about a man who came back from war and is now dealing with the negative side of it. The title of the poem is facing it, which is,he is facing a black wall with the names of other veterans of the Vietnam War, but the deeper meaning is a man who is facing his past or memories of the war and what it has done to him. The next thing am going to talk about is "I turn that way-- I'm inside the Vietnman Memorial again". This show that the man has been to the same place more than once or twice. The metaphorically meaning is a man who is looking for something at a place where he knows that, what he is looking for is at the same place and he needs to find it to make him feel alright. The last thing am going to talk about is "I touch the name Andrew Johnson; I see the booby trap's white flash. The literal meaning is, he touches a name on the black granite wall and has a flashback of that person doing something .The metaphorically meaning is, he knows that name well, and maybe be his best friend during the war, he touches the name and remembers something he or them did in the past together during the war.

11

2/22/2015 11:39:26 am

I agree with you that this poem is talking about a man who came back from war and is now dealing with the emotional after effects. Many people lost their lives in the war and they can't seem to get over what they had gone through. It's very emotional for them. It takes a lot out of them to get them through the tragic loss they have gone through. The man has been to the Vietnam memorial and walks up and down the wall numerous amounts of time. He pays his respects and suddenly has flashbacks of when he was fight war. The war has affected him tremendously and he can only heal with time.

10

2/22/2015 03:46:35 pm

Right, he has been at there more than once, which related back to the title of his poem, he is trying to remeber and somehow forget about the Vietnam war so that he can move on with his life and feel like hisself regarding his emotions.

23

3/2/2015 04:02:20 am

I like how you worded your response, basically it is hard for him to come into the light with the past that took so many people. It's like no matter how deep he tried to hide behind that black granite the past came to light and gave him closure. And the way you explained the quote "I touch the name Andrew Johnson; I see the booby trap's white flash”. You were saying how he touched the name Andrew Johnson and had a flashback on the way that he died and he had a more relevant relationship with Andrew Johnson.

20

2/20/2015 01:43:36 pm

Strong images that could be found in the poem “Facing It”, by Yusef Komunyakaa would be when it says “I said I wouldn’t, dammit: No tears. I’m stone. I’m flesh.” The literal meaning of this phrase can be interpreted that the speaker is angry with himself that he did start crying and that he could have been in some kind of shock feeling paralyzed by how he says “I’m stone.” The figurative meaning would be that the speaker thinks he’ll be strong enough to handle what he is about to reveal but ends up crying which goes long to the sentence “I’m human.” Another strong image would be how the speaker says “I’m a window”. The literal meaning of this phrase is that the speaker feels his reflection is not there and because windows are clear it’s seeing right through him. The figurative meaning would be that in a way the speaker pictures himself again while he was still a soldier seeing everything so its as if to say he’s there during the war but he’s not there because when you stand in front of a window you are looking outwards but you can’t see your own reflection. A third strong image created would be when the speaker says “I go down the 58,022 names, half-expecting to find my own in letters like smoke. I touch the name Andrew Johnson; I see the booby trap’s white flash. Names shimmer on a women’s blouse but when she walks away the names stay on the wall. The literal meaning is that he is reading his name expecting to find his within the gray letters, but then he touches a friends name and has a flashback seeing what he may have died from. As he has this flashback a women is walking by and her reflection shows some of the names and as she walks away they remain on the wall. Smoke as we all know accumulates but eventually expands disappearing. For the figurative meaning it can be interpreted that as life goes on the names will always remain on the wall. He speaker has to live with the fact that he survived because he could have also been dead just like it could have happened to anyone. These three examples of strong images portrayed in the poem helped me understand the theme of the poem which is that it is necessary to reflect upon our lives to be at peace and accept what’s happened and what is yet to come. Each of these examples you can see that the speaker constantly reflects on himself seeming angry but by the time you reach the end of the poem which ends in “No, she’s brushing a boy’s hair” it shows how he argued with himself and he wants to believe that nobody would be so cruel to even attempt “erasing” the names.
Word Count: 480

24

3/2/2015 11:06:52 am

I agree but was the writer really angry? yes he may have seemed upset even tearful at one point but was it anger? You can tell that he is reflecting on himself both by seeing his reflection in the wall and also the mental part of it. i can say that there may seem to be some contradiction within the poem because it almost seems depressing all up until the end were he is almost relieved that the lady was brushing the boys hair and not the names of the wall. it was bitter all the way till the end.

25

2/20/2015 01:47:38 pm

In the poem ‘Facing It’ it gives you another understanding then what the title actually says. When I hear this title I imagine that the author was facing an obstacle that they’re trying to accomplish. I also imagine that he will be facing something that he fears. After reading this poem and understanding it I realized that it has nothing to do with that. When the author says “My black face fades”, he’s talking about his reflection as he is in the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. He’s drowning himself in the names that he sees. The author is remembering what he went through during the Vietnamese war. He’s reflecting back on how his experience, and his thoughts during the war. He also says “I’m stone. I’m flesh” I think he means that he sees himself as a statue. When the author said he went down the list looking for his own letters like smoke, but instead he saw Andrew Johnson.i think the author was trying to say that his letters are not there because Johnson was the one that saved his life or saved him from something terrible that he was going to face.

This poem means and says a lot because it speaks to alot of men who were drafted in the Vietnamese War. Reading this they will reflect and understand what they were faced during this particular war.

20

2/22/2015 11:08:42 am

I think that Johnson may have saved the speakers life as well. It reminds me of the movie American Sniper like towards the end when Chris Kyle saw how dangerous the tours got that he lost some good "brothers" he decided to go home. He goes to therapy and speaks about how much he wishes he could have saved not only his team's lives but also of those innocent people who were being threaten by the enemy. It's good to know that we can interpret that the speaker is the type of person to stand up and he's willing to risk his life for those he cares about. Like he's remorsing wanting to believe that if he could go back and changes things he probably would.

20

2/22/2015 11:10:04 am

Word Count : 137

22

2/22/2015 02:12:51 pm

Yes, I never even thought of that, maybe Andrew Johnson did save his life because the speaker does say he was half expecting to find his on the wall. But also I think the speaker used "like smoke" because it symbolizes the amount of smoke in the war and also possibly that his name could of been there but disappeared like smoke because of who saved him.

4

2/22/2015 03:00:50 pm

I thought the statement where he is "drowning himself in the names he sees" was a very different and interesting way to look at that stanza in the poem and I agree with that. When he says "My black face fades" it does seem that his face is fading into the wall but I didn't think of his face fading due to all the other names in the wall. Also the idea that Andrew Johnson may have saved him during the war is another very creative and unique idea that I now agree with. It's a unique idea to think that the reason Andrew Johnson is a significant name to him is because he may have saved him during the war.

10

2/20/2015 02:40:02 pm

In this poem ‘’Facing It”, the author writes about his feelings towards the Vietnam War, the title itself speaks volumes in a way to show how he is trying to let go of what happen in the war. In lines 3 – 5 he states “I said I wouldn’t, dammit: No tears. I’m stone. I’m flesh. “As a survivor in the war, you have to live life with knowing that a lot of the people who you went into the war with are dead. When you leave the war you are more head strong and traumatized then emotional, but knowing that people that you love in the war is dead gets really emotional to think about, and you don’t want to cry about it because you somewhat want to be strong for the, but in this line he explains that he has to cry, he is human, he is just like everyone else who has feelings and has to express and cry. In lines 14 – 16, he says “I go down the 58,022 names, half-expecting to find my own letters like smoke.” This is can be referring to his regret. He is basically saying that with all those dead people, he should be a part of them, on that black wall, finding his letters like smoke can refer to the bombs in the war, and the smoke as an after math or a metaphor for the death of all those other people. In lines 10 – 13, he says “I turn that way – I’m inside the Vietnam veteran’s memorial again, depending on the light to make a difference” This can refer to him wanting justice for his feelings in some type of way. He is depending on the light to make a difference in his feeling towards the war, and the names on wall, and so because we are human and all share different feelings about war, we must learn to over come it by facing what makes us hold so much in about it. Whether it was your best friend who died in the war while you survived, or your dad, sibling etc you must learn to face it, cry about it, write about it. Just as long as it doesn't pull you down.

10

2/20/2015 03:49:55 pm

Word count: 373

23

3/2/2015 04:11:32 am

I agree when you say “the title itself speaks volumes in a way to show how he is trying to let go of what happen in the war” because when people usually face things it’s something that they don’t want to be true but they have to face the fact that it is true and what happened happen and there isn’t anything you can do about it. I also agreed when you said “When you leave the war you are more head strong and traumatized then emotional, but knowing that people that you love in the war is dead gets really emotional to think about, and you don’t want to cry about it because you somewhat want to be strong”. That’s 100% true you will have more emotions and will be badly affected if someone you loved/was close to pasted away rather than some other person you met in the last couple months

13

2/20/2015 03:30:44 pm

“Facing it”, it can be define as many things. You’re facing your greatest fear, a person who been treating you wrong or even just standing up to yourself and becoming a man or woman. “I go down the 58,022 names, half-expecting to find my own in letters like smoke”. He was with some of those soldiers who died, and instead of being dead with them, he’s looking at their tomb. Wondering if he is truly alive, seeing his name but its fading away meaning, he is alive. “In the black mirror a woman’s trying to erase names: no, she’s brushing a boy’s hair”. What he sees in the black wall is a woman who is brushing a child hair but since he’s looking at the wall it looks like she trying to erase the names. Did he finally move on from the past. Once he fought beside them and now all he can do is see their names on a wall. He should be happy but how can he just forget his fallen teammates. After all this time he knows that they names will never go away. It will forever be on that wall not as people who died but heroes who fought for their people and he is proud of that.
212

11

2/22/2015 11:50:48 am

I agree with everything you said. He was at the memorial for some closure. He felt like he should of been one of those names that were on the wall. He didn't believe that he should have been alive because everyone else who was apart of his crew died in this violent war. He is in disbelief because he didn't understand that it was not his time to go yet. He sees the world in a different view. Things that didn't have much meaning before is starting to look as if it means something different to him.

4

2/22/2015 03:17:11 pm

I agree with the entire blog post. To start with, its very true that the idea of a soldier who has survived a war has to look up and down the wall of the names of his fellow soldiers and more than that but friends he fought with. He may have witnessed some of the names on the wall die or maybe he didn't know them at all, but regardless its a lot to take in when you look at this massive wall. The second quote you chose of the woman erasing the names on the wall is another deep quote where I think what if she knew that ladies son or husband in which she was brushing his hair, he may have had no connection with anybody on the wall or may have known thousands of names, regardless he is there to face adversity and you explained this well.

22

2/20/2015 03:57:38 pm

In “Facing It” a poem by Yusef Komuyakaa, he says “I’m stone. I’m flesh.” literally meaning that he is standing there like stone, still, no movement. In the flesh because he is human with emotions. Figuratively, he means that he made his self into stone, numbed himself to not feel this past but he’s human so he is emotional, he can not forget it completely. Especially since he is at the memorial with the names of his friends who he may have seen die. He also says “I go down the 58,022 names, half-expecting to find my own in letters like smoke." Literally he is saying he reads all the names expecting to see his in gray. Metaphorically he may be saying his name should of been there because he was there, in the risks and fear. The smoke signifies the smoke of the gun fires that caused these deaths. Another image he reveals "I touch the name Andrew Johnson; I see the booby trap’s white flash. Names shimmer on a women’s blouse but when she walks away the names stay on the wall." Physically he's saying that he saw his partners name and had a flashback. Also on the reflection of the women's blouse the names go across it and when she leaves the names stay on the wall. Metaphorically he's saying that Andrew Johnson he remembers the pain he felt, he saw when he died in the explosion. Also the next part can metaphorically mean that this woman had a loved one on the wall, he appears on her blouse, her heart and when she leave the names remain because their death can't be undone. These images support the title "Facing It" because in each image someone faces what happened in that terrible war, they all face their own emotions they tried to hide, to maybe forget. In order to keep strong emotionally, we must face the truth and get past it, not forget but embrace.

13

2/22/2015 12:24:12 pm

Even seeing his teammate names can remind him of the past. He hasn’t gotten over the war and what happened to his partners. The flash could have been a flashback to the event that killed his teammates. He see the reflection of the women on the wall. The women is brushing a child’s hair but in the reflection it seems that she trying to erase the names on the wall. He can feel glad that even though he couldn’t protect his teammates, he knows that their names will forever be on that wall, to show that they died but died as a hero. 102

25

2/22/2015 11:31:31 am

I Agree with #2 just for the simple fact that we had similar things that we elaborated on. We both talked about how when he was going down the list reading the names he was hoping to see his name as he refected back on the black wall as I call it. I feel as if the wall is that color because it represents such a dark time in people life's. It was a time where we had one of the worst wars ever. Even today it still effects us. Even though this poem is old it still means a lot and touches people's heart when they read it. Especially veterans.

2

2/22/2015 11:54:06 am

I agree with # 11, because The man may be involved in the war during that year, and he survived, so due to his survival he came back to pay respect to the name on the wall which were the people he suffered with. Doing that reminds him on what happened during the war. Also touching the wall or the names on wall makes him feel the terrible situation he went through in the past. This poem builds up more understanding and makes it seems real due to the images even though it's old, it still reminds a lot of people about what went on in that particular year.

5

2/22/2015 12:35:46 pm

In the poem “Facing It”, the man is looking down the memorial wall in which he is facing the names of lost hero’s. He states the he is stone, and he is flesh. In the literal sense this could mean he is human. As a metaphorical term, this could mean that even though he is there on his own two feet, he is still part of the brotherhood or his company. No matter how many times he keeps coming back to this memorial, he will never forget his past. This man is lost on the arch of regrets that was fighting in a reign of Vietnamese terror. This man is seeing more than just names upon a Smokey granite wall. He sees himself in the granite, and possibly has one arm, or reflection trick. He looks over to see a women in disrespect of the wall. But is just brushing a boy’s hair. Or it could be that she is tracing the name on a piece of paper, and the metaphorical part is that she is brushing a boy’s hair. This is a sad tragic poem, but it needs to be heard in order to solve the problems of leaving the lost, in other words, “PTSD”
Word count:206

24

3/2/2015 11:02:07 am

i somewhat agree for one yes you may think that this character was in the war. But was he ? we don't know maybe it was a loved one or maybe the feelings depicted are of remorse or even appreciation. Yes it's a sad poem but i think it's just the fact that so many lives were lost.

21

2/27/2015 05:09:57 am

The poem facing it has some interesting sentences and I chose three of them. “My own in letters like smoke” is saying it looks like smoke with the grey letters and back ground. The real meaning of that sentence is a lot of men die in the war with the smoke with the explosion. “In the black mirror, a woman’s trying to erase names: no, she’s brushing a boy’s hair” is trying to say that she’s wiping off the black wall of his name but in other words,shes trying to erase his name to keep alive for final moment with her son. “Names shimmer on a woman’s blouse but when she walks away the names stay on the wall” tells you that the name shines on the shirt as the name is gone because of reflection. But the reflection blocks the name as her son is still alive but when it’s gone; his life is lost in the war.

24

3/2/2015 10:55:01 am

In the poem facing it by Yusef Komunyakaa there are many images posed by the text. For example, the writer says, “ My black face fades, hiding inside the black granite.” Here when you read this line you can picture a person of brown skin looking into the vietnam memorial and seeing their reflection start to fade. Maybe it’s just the stigma the wall holds or the negativity overpowering the strength of the speaker after all it is a long list of the dead. “i touch the name Andrew Johnson; I see the booby trap’s white flash” you can infer that this person is reflecting on the past possibly during the war. This person must have served and is re-living a moment with this “Andrew Johnson” character. Maybe the trauma of the war or the meaning of the memorial itself is getting to him. Another example of imagery would be when the author says “ I go down the 58,022 names, half-expecting to find my own in letters like smoke”. This is a strong image because you can infer that this person feels guilty like maybe he should be one of those names. Maybe the fact that so many died is just an overwhelming thought and got the best of his mental. word count: 211

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3/2/2015 01:35:25 pm

In the poem facing it by Yusef Komunyakaa, the three images that I can describe their figurative and literal meanings are when the poet talks about the black face fading in the black granite, the women wiping away a name with her hand and lastly the name of the title. The black face fading in the black granite literally has a meaning of someone of color standing there facing all the names and lives they once knew, reminiscing the times of battle and fun. The lady wiping away the name on the wall has a figurative meaning saying she's touching it to show her emotions and feelings but wiping her hand across it she's taking that memory with her. Then lastly with the name of the poem, the literal meaning to it is everyone who was in the war, faced death and loss right in the eyes and couldn't do anything about it. The other literal meaning is the people visiting the memorial, are actually facing the wall and all the names.

#3

3/2/2015 03:35:01 pm

As I read the poem “Facing It” I could help but realize all of the deeper meanings within the text. I state this because as I read down the lines I come across “the 58,022 names”. I find this important because think about how many lives and how much blood was shed in the Vietnam War resulting in a loss. Another line I can’t help but bring to attention is “I said I wouldn’t,dammit: No tears.” This has so much meaning because veteran Author Yusef Komunyakaa is looking at the wall to try and face his past of the War. Yusef feels like being at this memorial will be the ultimate way of trying to cope with his past. Another powerful statement was “I touch the name Andrew Johnson”. This is gold because that has to have been someone who was close to Yusef and for him to find his name in memory is just a big reality check and can make you really come to your senses. Soldiers going through these heroic actions such as our author tend to often have a lot of things on their plates and can definitely go through a lot of hardships in order to get on with their lives.
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